Frank Lampard didn’t make as many changes as was predicted for Chelsea’s victory over Morecambe in the FA Cup victory on Sunday but two players who did start have perhaps forced their way into his starting eleven to face Fulham on Friday.
It is back to the Premier League later this week after a weekend respite from the top flight where the Blues have won just one of their last six outings and has seen them drop seven points behind league leaders Liverpool.
Sunday’s 4-0 breeze past League Two side Morecambe on Sunday saw Timo Werner and Kai Havertz break their goal droughts of 12 and 15 games respectively as Lampard named a very strong side to get the job done, which they did.
Another goal scorer on the day has arguably forced his way into the Blues starting lineup for the visit to Craven Cottage on Friday night - Callum Hudson-Odoi.
The winger netted his second goal in two games when scoring the third goal of the afternoon at Stamford Bridge at the weekend, adding to his consolation strike against Manchester City seven days previously.
Hudson-Odoi was dropped for the return of Hakim Ziyech from injury when the Blues lost to City but the duo started together against Morecambe, with Ziyech on the right of the front three and Hudson-Odoi on the left.
The latter enjoyed a good couple of outings against Arsenal and Aston Villa but found himself back on the bench for Ziyech’s return. But the two dovetailed nicely as inverted wingers against Morecambe and Christian Pulisic is under pressure for his starting berth.
Lampard said after the game on Sunday: “Callum is playing well and improving. He has improved and there’s much more to come from him.
“But I think his application in training, his desire to look at his game, goals like today are a fantastic example.
“In terms of how long until he makes that case [for a run in the team]? He’s making it now.
“When everyone is fit we have maybe three natural wingers and he’s one of them. There’s always going to be a time when I have to make selection decisions.”
Another player who has forced his way into the reckoning for a regular run of games is midfielder Billy Gilmour.
With the poor form of Mateo Kovacic in recent weeks, plus with N’Golo Kante absent for the Fulham game through suspension, the space is there for the Scotsman to make his first start of the Premier League season.
Lampard has taken it carefully with his talented teenager as he makes his way back from a serious knee injury which saw him ruled out for the first few months of the campaign but the manager, as we all know, is a big fan of the 19-year-old midfielder.
“I think Billy is pushing [for a regular run in the first-team] and has been since he made his breakthrough last season against top-level opposition,” Lampard added on Gilmour.
“His injury came soon after that but from those moments I knew Billy would be a very, very good player for this club, to say the least.
“Today, he came in, his attitude was good, he moved the ball well. When you talk about the academy players, people talk about the youth of this squad.
“But also the youth of this squad are performing very well for us. We can’t ask them to be absolutely consistent and killers like other players in the league. That will come but at the moment I think they’re own contributions are good.”
Jorginho was an unused substitute against Morecambe and his name will also be in the frame to replace the suspended Kante at Fulham, while Lampard could also persist with Kovacic who, don’t forget, was player of the year at the club for 2019/20.
But the Blues boss would have wanted to use the Morecambe game to see if any players could give him a selection headache for the Premier League campaign and both Gilmour and Hudson-Odoi did that on Sunday.
